Zhean Drae G. Genterola
1 PTB
Physical Therapy Article Reflection The main focus and aim of Physical therapy is to help restore the physical capabilities of a certain individual. It is to bring back the physical state of a patient before he/she was injured. The article that I choose is entitled “Neuromuscular Electric Stimulation Effect on Lower-Extremity Motor Recovery and Gait Kinematics of Patients With Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial” by Yavuzer et al. The article is focused on the effectiveness of NMES (Neuromuscular Electric Stimulation) in helping improve the frequent motor inability of stroke patients.
The article was not that effective because it was concluded that NMES combined with a conventional stroke rehabilitation program was not superior to a conventional stroke rehab program alone. But it was effective in showing the difference between these two procedures. They managed to determine insignificant gap between the results of the two processes.
For me, the article, along with many other PT articles, focused on the concepts of the brain and nervous system, restoring it’s functions to a normal state. They hypothesized that the repeated dorsiflexion of the ankle by NMES may enhance selective motor skills because it helps activate the muscles that are left numb by the stroke that the patient suffered. Stroke is, of course, the loss of blood supply to the brain, thus decreasing the cerebral activity/function. The aim of NMES is to restore full function of motor senses. In this article, NMES is being applied to the tibialis anterior muscle, a particular muscle on the leg. It concentrates on the full restoration of motor senses on the lower-extremity.
Common in PT articles is the concept of motivation. This article is no exception. Although it was stated that the patients whom the experiment is being conducted are mostly in their 50’s because the mean age is 55years, they failed to look at their backgrounds. The experiment is completely randomized therefore we did not know if these people are motivated or striving to achieve a goal. It is because the older brain does not change as rapidly as the young brain according to Baltes et al.
The authors were right not to use the placebo stimulation (sham technique) because it might trigger the placebo effect (patient thinks he/she is improving because of the “medicine” or treatment they are given) because it might just distort the clear picture.
Overall, the article is an eye-opener. It shows us that not all perceived improvement or modifications are effective. The NMES still has the same ability to rehabilitate a patient as a conventional treatment.